Plug expander unit for cardboard containers



Dec. 24, 1957 PLUG EXPANDER UNIT FOR CARDBOARD CONTAINERS FIG.

N. W. LYON Filed Nov. 1, 1954 2 FIG. 2.

' IN V EN TOR. N ORMAN W. LYON ATTORN EYS United States Patent filice PLUG EXPANDER UNIT FOR CARDBOARD CONTAINERS Norman W. Lyon, Wilbraham, Mass., assignor to Package Machinery Company, East Longmeadow, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application November 1, 1954, Serial No. 466,100

6 Claims. (Cl. 53--330) This invention relates to a plug expander unit for cardboard containers such as milk cartons and more specifically to a device which will seal a recessed plug closure member in the opening of this type of container.

An object of the invention is to provide apparatus to expand a groove in the bottom of the recess of a closure plug which may be conventionally hinged at one side of the opening of the container, and to form a peripheral lip in the plug recess at the underside of the container opening so as to grip the edges thereof against inadvertent removal of the closure plug.

Another object is to provide a device which will seal the opening of a cardboard carton of the type described and in the above manner so as to form an expanded groove adapted to receive a disk or cap bearing identifying indicia printed thereon.

The invention resides in the particular combination and relationship of the parts thereof as herein disclosed and the above and other objects and advantages thereof will be apparent from the following description of an embodiment thereof as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the expander unit of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a recessed closure plug indicated as sealing the opening of a cardboard container together with an identification cap inserted in the expanded recess.

The expander device as shown herein is adapted to be supported in vertically disposed position and may be mounted on a vertically reciprocable support as the member s in Fig. 2. The member s may be a support on which are mounted other suitable units for opening a closure plug of a container (commonly hinged on the container top wall adjacent the edge of the opening) prior to filling the same, closing the plug for operation of the device of this invention, and for subsequently applying an identification disk as the disk d shown by Fig. 3. Suitable intermittently driven conveyor means may be employed so as to successively present the bottles at the several stations. The present invention is directed to the plug expander unit as herein disclosed for forming an enlarged groove in the bottom of the recess at r of the plug p. As indicated in Fig. 1 spaced below the tubular expander element, the carton top c with the recessed plug set therein is presented to the unit. The unit is operated to expand an annular groove in the lower section of the recess thereby forming the expanded lip shown at l by Fig. 3. This lip which is expanded below the edge of the wall at the opening seals the plug in the opening and as well provides a groove in the recess into which a cap d with printed indicia thereon may be inserted in the manner shown by Fig. 3.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 the lower end portion 1 of the unit is of tubular formation having a plurality of annularly arranged longitudinally extending segments 3, the lower free ends thereof being provided with outwardly directed flanged rims or lips 2. The slotted portions forming the segments 3 extend substantially the entire length of the portion 1. Spaced inwardly of the flanged outer end of the segmented section of the tube, each segment is formed with a thickened wall portion intermediate the ends thereof and in each portion a threaded pin 4 is inserted. The pins 4 are arranged annularly of the tube portion 1 and project inwardly of the passage thereof to lie with the tips 5 in the path of a movable plunger member 6 telescopically received within the tube. The beveled end 7 of the plunger lies inwardly adjacent the tips 5 which restrict the passage,

and spaced from the plunger end at 7 is a reduced plungerthe neck portion 8 receives the pins 4, the segments 3- are in collapsed condition. During plunger movement longitudinally of the tube between said limits the plunger cams the pins 4 outwardly causing the fingers or segments 3 to spread and thus to expand a groove in the bottom of a plug recess by reason of the flanged lips 2. During said longitudinal movement rotary motion is also imparted to the plunger so as to cause the flanged lips 2 to wipe an annular groove into the wall of the closure plug.

An enlarged bearing portion 9 of the plunger 6 is provided with a spirally formed longitudinal slot 10, the portion 9 having a sliding fit in the upper section 11 of the tube at the base of which the shouldered upper end of the segmented lower portion 1 of the tube is fitted as by set screws, one of which is indicated at 12. The spiral slot 10 receives the end of a removable pin 20 which is threaded through the side wall at the top of the tube section 11. Thus longitudinal movement of the movable plunger causes the tube to turn during the plunger passage past the pin 20. The length of the slot also determines the length of travel of the plunger with respect to the tube.

The tubular member consisting of the upper and lower sections 1 and 11 respectively is also itself mounted for limited vertical movement. The upper section 11 adjacent its lower end is provided with spaced collar portions 13 and 14 respectively. Between the collars is set a pair of diametrically positioned rollers 15 forming stop means. The rollers are fixedly mounted at the forked ends of a supporting bracket 18, the opposite end 17 of the bracket being suitably fixed on a stationary frame post as at 19. The rollers 15 are mounted on axle pins 16 set transversely to the axis of the tube so as to provide an anti-friction hearing when the tube is rotated during the stroke of the plunger 6.

In operation, a carton is presented at the station below the unit as shown by Fig. l. The reciprocable support s of Fig. 2 may be at an elevation suspending the lower end of the segmented tube portion above the recess r of the closure plug. In this position the plunger carries the tube in its upper position of vertical movement, further upward movement being prevented by virtue of the stop rollers engaging the lower collar 13, and the bottom of the plunger slot engaging the pin 20 of the tube, all as shown by Fig. 1. On initial downward movement of the support s the plunger is lowered thereby lowering the tube (which hangs by the set pin 20) until the roller stop means engages the upper collar 14 of the tube. The tube is thus prevented from further down ward movement and in this position the flanged ends 2 of the tube segments are disposed in the bottom of the recess r. The plunger then commences its down stroke Patented Dec. 24, 1957 with respect to the tube and expands the tube by pushing the lower plunger end portion past the pins 4 to cam the segment walls outwardly. While the segments are being held outwardly flexed the tube is rotated by virtue of the spiraled slot thus forming an annular groove in the recess wall and expanding the same underneath the edge of the opening of the carton. Against the upper end of the slot 10 the pin limits further longitudinal movement of the plunger and in this position the pins 4 are registered with the reduced neck 8 of the plunger. The segments are thus returned to collapsed condition.

On its upstroke return the support s lifts the plunger and carries with it the collapsed segmented end of the tube upwardly of the carton to the relative position shown by Fig. 2 wherein the rollers 15 again contact the collar 13. The lifting support for the initial simultaneous upstroke of both plunger and tube is provided by the engagement of the pins 4 in the neck portion 8. As the roller stop means 15 engages collar 13 the pins 4 are cammed out of the portion 8, the plunger is pulled upwardly past the pins to return to the upper position of Fig. 2.

What is claimed is:

1. An expander unit for sealing a recessed closure plug in the opening of a cardboard carton container comprising a hollow tubular member with the outer end portion thereof formed with a plurality of longitudinally extending expandable segments, with each segment having an outwardly flanged edge at the free end thereof, the Walls of said segments having localized means spaced from said free ends for restricting the passageway through said tubular member, a plunger member slidably carried in said tubular member and engageable with said restricting means for flexing said segments outwardly during relative longitudinal movement between said members, said plunger member having intermediate the ends thereof a recessed portion registrable with said restricting means and receiving the same for collapsed condition of said segments at one position of relative travel between said members, said plunger member at a second position of relative travel disengaging said restricting means for a similarly collapsed condition of said segments at said second position.

2. An expander unit for sealing a recessed closure plug in the opening of a cardboard carton container comprising a longitudinally movable hollow tubular member, means to limit said longitudinal movement, said member having a plurality of arcuately arranged expandable longitudinal segments at the outer end thereof and each segment having an outwardly flanged lip at the free end thereof, a plunger member slidably received within said tubular member, said members having interengaging means imparting rotary motion to said tubular member during relative longitudinal movement between said members at each limit of travel of said tubular member, said segments of the tubular member inwardly of the free ends thereof having localized means projecting inwardly of the walls thereof, and said plunger member having a reduced stem portion inwardly of the end thereof for receiving said projecting means at one limit of relative travel between said members, the end of said plunger to limit the movement thereof, and a movable plunger member telescopically received in said tubular member, one of said members having a longitudinal spirally formed groove therein and the other member having a projection riding in said groove imparting rotary motion to said plunger member on movement thereof relative to said tubular member and limiting the travel of said plunger member in the tube, said tubular member being longitudinally slotted at its outer end with the segments formed thereby being expandable and having at their free ends outwardly directly flanged lips and, spaced from said ends, members projecting inwardly of said tubular member and annularly arranged in the path of said plunger member through the tubular member, the free end of said plunger member at its outer limit of relative travel lying adjacent said projecting means and inwardly of said free end having an annularly reduced neck registrable with said projecting means at the inner limit of relative travel whereby said segments are outwardly flexed during longitudinal movement of said plunger member in said tubular member and at each limit of plunger member travel are disposed in unstressed condition.

4. The structure of claim 3 in which the said spirally formed groove is provided in the stem of said plunger member and the projection riding therein is a removable pin carried in the wall of said tubular member adjacent the end thereof opposite said slotted end.

5. The structure of claim 4 in which said movable tubular member includes a pair of longitudinally spaced collars on said member and said means to limit movement of the member comprises a pair of fixedly supported rollers mounted on' an axis transverse to the axis of said tubular member and between said collars.

6. The structure of claim 4 in which said tubular member comprises an upper and a lower section, said upper section having at one end a removable pin threaded in the wall thereof and engaging said groove with said section adjacent the other end having longitudinally spaced collars forming stops for engaging said limiting means of said tubular member, the lower section being removably attached at said other end of the upper section and formed of thin flexible metal with the segments of said tubular member extending substantially the entire length of said lower section with the said projecting means of the segments formed by pins threaded through the segment walls intermediate the ends thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 949,682 Morris Feb. 15, 1910 1,040,615 Brown Oct. 8, 1912 1,069,915 Weis Aug. 12, 1913 

